Ottawa, February 07, 2021 : Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa and Consulate General of Pakistan in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal arranged a series of programmes, webinars and media interviews to highlight the human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir and express solidarity with Kashmiris facing the worst kind of oppression under illegal Indian occupation.
The day started with the High Commissioner reading out messages of the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day. The messages were also broadcast by the local 770 AM and E-Awaz TV and FM radio channel. The day’s leading event was a high-level webinar hosted by the High Commission and Consulate General Toronto and Vancouver and attended by *AJK President Sardar Masood Khan*, High Commissioner Raza Bashir Tarar and leading human rights activists, including Karan Rodman, Robert Fantina, Ken Stone and Dr. Zafar Bangash.
Raza Bashir Tarar made introductory and closing remarks while the keynote address was given President Sardar Masood Khan who called Kashmir a human rights Armageddon that the world could ill-afford to ignore. Raza Bashir Tarar said that there was no way to whitewash and spin the appalling human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K). He said it was heartening to note that India’s elaborate ruse was finally unravelling as in latest debacle in the form of EU DisinfoLab and the world was waking to the fact that India was not all about Namaste, Yoga and Non-Violence and all these things were masking something very sinister and terrible.
Meanwhile, local Canadian human rights and civil society organisations and groups also arranged separate webinars on the Kashmir Solidarity Day, including one arranged by Justice for All Canada which was attended among others by Chairman Kashmir Solidarity Council Javed Rathore, Member UK Parliament Afzal Khan, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, George Washington University Prof Dr. Imtiaz Khan and Karen Rodman.
Kashmir Committee Ottawa also arranged a webinar which was also attended and addressed by High Commissioner Raza Bashir Tarar. President All Parties International Kashmir Coordination Committee Great Britain Nazir Ahmed Qureshi, Lord Qurban Hussain and Carleton University Ottawa’s Prof Rehani Hashmi also addressed the webinar. Similarly, Canadian Muslim Media Club also arranged an online seminar on ‘Conflict in South Asia: Its Ramification on Regional Prosperity’ which was chaired by Consul General of Pakistan Vancouver Janbaz Khan who used the event to highlight the dangers lingering Kashmir issue posed to the regional peace and stability.
The Pakistan High Commission also arranged a virtual exhibition of paintings, drawings, billboards, posters, streamers and bridge-banners highlighting the importance of Kashmir Solidarity Day. Special documentaries and songs dedicated to the Kashmir struggle were also broadcast on the social and local electronic media. High Commissioner Raza Bashir Tarar also attended an hour-long exclusive programme in the prime time of Toronto 360 TV in which he highlighted the Indian brazenness and bravado in subjecting the defenceless Kashmiris to endless atrocities.
